Story of the Piece: The World Beneath

There is a lot more to see here than what you see at first glance!

A shape in the darkness. A glint of reflected light. A vine crossing through. Something that might be a leaf, a shadow, a hollow in a fallen log.

Then you look again.

The World Below is built around that moment — the moment your eyes begin to adjust and a hidden world reveals itself. It is not about seeing everything immediately. It is about slowing down long enough to notice.

Built layer by layer with texture, paint, sculptural elements and glass resin, the work changes as light moves across its surface. Details appear, disappear and return from another angle. A hollow log becomes visible. Tiny fungi emerge. A small frog waits quietly inside. Nothing announces itself. You have to find it.

This is not a painting of a rainforest floor. It is the feeling of looking into one - where decay, growth, shadow and life are all happening at once, whether you notice them or not.

Created in Far North Queensland as part of the Obsidian Worlds series, The World Beneath marks a progression in the series — from the earlier exploration of texture and changing light into increasingly layered, detailed worlds.

The hidden elements have become more intricate, the textures more dimensional and the interaction with light more deliberate. Yet the idea at the heart of Obsidian remains the same: black is not an absence. It is the beginning.

Time, movement and changing light reveal what was already there.